2020 would go down in memory as a bad year, but in the world of BL, things couldn’t have been better.
Be it 2gether in Thailand or Cherry Magic in Japan, BL dramas saw a surge in popularity across east Asia. What was once a niche, the BL scene blossomed into many sub-genres of its own.
Here’s a look at what sent the hearts of fujoshi pitter patter while they were stuck at home. If there’s any BL drama that you haven’t caught, be sure to find some time to do so, because the wave that was BL drama only seem to be getting more momentum in 2021!
2gether The Series
The rise in BL drama’s popularity could be traced to GMMTV’s summer production. Dubbed the best thing to happen during the lockdown, the premiere of 2gether seemed to be timed perfectly when everyone got grounded at home.
GMMTV is no stranger to the BL drama genre, for it single-handedly pushed Thai BL into the forefront of Thai lakorn with SOTUS in 2016. Back then, China’s BL drama was just gathering steam with Addicted, before it got nicked in the bud with the clamp down by the Chinese authorities. It seems like GMMTV has once again rode on a crisis to elevate the status of BL dramas into mainstream.
Read More: Why was “2gether The Series” such a hit?
2gether followed the tale of Tine who, in a bid to shake off an admirer, asked Sarawat, the most popular guy university, to pretend to be his boyfriend. Unbeknownst to him, Sarawat had been holding a torch for Tine and Tine’s request presented an opportunity for Sarawat to conquer Tine’s heart.
Other than being “the best thing to happen during lockdown”, 2gether also inspired a new online slang in China “epitome of looks”（颜值天花板）, which was used to refer to how the 2 leads, Bright and Win, were one of the best looking actors to helm a BL drama. In fact, you could find no actors in 2gether that looked ugly.
Beyond the superficial, the production team behind 2gether also put together good storytelling, edits and background music, making 2gether one of the best BL dramas to be produced.
Read More: The underrated finale of 2gether The Series
2gether was so successful that it spurred GMMTV to release a 5-episode “special season” – Still 2gether – within a month after 2gether’s finale.
However, as 2gether was Win’s debut, there were many instances where his amateurish acting was caught on film. While his acting improved as the series progressed, it was still one of the weakest link of the series, even into Still 2gether.
Cherry Magic
As the craze for BL swept across East Asia, BL dramas from Vietnam to Philippines gained attention from BL-hungry fujoshi. But none could recreate the wonder that was GMMTV. As the months passed by, it seemed that “BL fatigue” has started to set in. Just when we thought the fad that was BL was about to die off, Cherry Magic burst into the scene with a dash of cherry blossom freshness from Japan.
Japan is no stranger to the BL scene. Back in 2016, Ossan’s Love swept thousands of fujoshis off their feet. Its popularity spurred 2 more seasons and a movie (using the same set of actors but with storylines in different settings).
Read More: Cherry Magic was the best ending to 2020.
However, Japan’s BL drama never moved past Ossan’s Love. Considering that the BL genre originated from Japan in the form of mangas, it was weird that Japan didn’t have a thriving BL scene like that of Thailand. With such pent up demand for Japanese BL, it was no wonder Cherry Magic fans lapped up every scene in the series thirstily.
In Cherry Magic, Adachi, a 30 year old introverted office worker with low self confidence, found himself acquiring the magical capability of reading minds through touch. Shortly after that, he found – to his amusement – that the star of the office, Kurosawa, had a crush in the office. Within seconds, he learned that Kurosawa’s object of love was none other than Adachi himself!
With double quick pace, the premise of the story was set within the 1st episode – which lasted 20 minutes. The rest of the series focused on Adachi coming to terms with Kurosawa’s affection, Kurosawa struggling to contain his secret desires, culminating to the climax of them confronting each other’s secrets.
Cherry Magic comes with the usual dash of Japanese humour. Japanese series are also known for their short and sweet screenplays. Combined with superb production, Cherry Magic stood out in the BL genre that was crowded with mediocre acting and storytelling.
The only downside of this series? No kiss. No intimacy. No nothing. Nilch.
Read More: Cherry Magic challenges 2gether’s iconic high five.
One man’s fish is another man’s poison. In a genre saturated with dramas filled with sex and raunch, Cherry Magic is the kind of clear green tea you need to refresh your palatte.
As a personal favourite, Cherry Magic lasts for 20 minutes per episode. For busy working professionals, this fits in nicely on the morning/evening commute. That is, of course, if you are daring enough to watch a BL drama on the train!
I Told Sunset About You (ITSAY)
Ever since GMMTV found the magic formula of BL through SOTUS, every other Thai BL was literally a rehash of the 2016 classic. The most unique part about SOTUS was that it deviated from the norm, which usually focused on the struggles of gay love, which fits the tastes of viewers who preferred heavy, emotional scenes.
I Told Sunset About You (ITSAY) revisited this genre after almost a 4 year hiatus. That’s not to say its popularity was due to pent up demand.
Just take a look at Twitter, and you will see fans praising every aspect of the series, down to the individual scenes. In fact, if you are short of desktop wallpapers, just search for #ITSAY and there you are, beautiful interactions of Teh and Oh against the mesmerising backdrop of Phuket.
Storyline wise, Teh and Oh went through a rather stale process of secretly loving each other, falling out with each other, making up with each other, then fall out again and make up again… All against the societal backdrop of “conservative Chinese cultural values” that was as stereotypical as the beautiful scenes of Phuket.
Stereotypical, because we found out near the ending that Teh’s older brother was super receptive of Teh’s affection of Oh, while their mother, despite a manic obsession with Teh’s academic career, was more concerned about whether Teh was happy than whether he was with a boy or girl.
Read More: Indulge in scenes out of postcards with I Told Sunset About You.
The only way the director could pull off such a stale storyline was through the meticulous manipulation of the production. Teh and Oh’s struggles were immaculately captured by their acting – they’re still young and new actors, mark you! The climactic scene of Teh breaking down, after finding himself isolated from his family and Oh, made viewers held their breath for as long as he struggled to come to terms with the excommunication.
Only a precise control of acting, cinematography, sound and music could achieve such an effect.
On the other hand, the slow pace of the drama started to show midway through. I would recommend not to binge watch ITSAY. Pace yourself, one epsiode a day. After all, there’s only 5 episodes, so it could easily be completed over 2 weekends 🙂
Where Your Eyes Linger
It was said that Where Your Eyes Linger was the first BL drama from Korea. That depends on how you define BL.
BL used to be starkly different from GL (Gay Love). BL was a mix of bromance and teases. The male leads led their straight lives and continued as such, while engaging in suggestive interactions with their best male friends.
Think Raj and Howard from Big Bang Theory. Or Merlin and King Arthur from Merlin. In Korean drama, we have Kim Shin and Wang Yeo from Goblin. Or lesser known BL teases like the 2 neighbours forced to live together in The Boy Next Door.
Korean drama was never short of BL. However, as the line between GL and BL blurs, Where Your Eyes Linger became the iconic drama for the start of this “new identity”.
Where Your Eye Lingers followed the story of Tae Joo and Kong Gook, an heir to a huge business conglomerate and his bodyguard. As they grew up together, the line between them began to blur. They had to come to terms with their affection for each other, which actually took a few years and a physical split.
Korean drama fans would be familiar with the character set up. The assertive lead would be physically weak and soft, while the opposite is true for the other lead. In fact, the whole storyline was a rehash of a usual BG Korean drama – a bodyguard from a poor background falling in love with the daughter of a powerful company whom he was supposed to protect.
Where Your Eye Lingers’ rise in popularity was similar to Cherry Magic. It followed the classic formula of its home country, ventured into a nich genre, and was quickly embraced by an audience cultivated by Thai BL.
If Korean drama is your thing, then Where Your Eye Lingers cannot be missed. Its success had inspired other Korean BLs to follow its footsteps, and you won’t be a true blue BL fan if you haven’t watched this!
YYY
As the dominant force for BL in recent years, Thai BL was lacking a style that was synonymous to Thai dramas – slapstick humour. With the meteoric rise of BL in 2020, YYY burst into the scene with his short episodes, loud characters and storylines that left viewers with question marks.
Yet we were so gratified by the slapstick humour that we kept returning for more episodes.
Nott and Pun are the leads of this short sitcom, and to tell the truth, their character set up and storyline couldn’t be more “normal”. They were forced to be room mates, and then gradually found themselves to be attracted to each other.
The comedic effetc was supported by Porpla, the matriach of the condo, and her side kicks. For those who are familiar with Mundo BL productions, Porpla was played by Poppy, a tall and muscular actor. Yes, watching him in drag was weirdly satisfying.
When we’re away from work, we would also want to let our hair down. YYY, with its simple storyline and out of the world gags, guarantees viewers a hell of a great time.
Consolation
2020, as the tipping point for BL drama, saw a huge influx of BL dramas being hosted on online video platforms. The list above was just some of the more prominent and popular BL series shown in 2020. Here are some mentions of BL dramas that did not gain as much popularity, but were still good in their own ways.
Manner of Death
Thai BL is a victim of its success. Most of the BL dramas after SOTUS were all revolving around the engineering faculty in Bangkok universities. It was so saturated that people started to ask: are all engineers in Bangkok gay?
Manner of Death broke the trajectory with a storyline focused on thriller and mystery. Like an Agatha Christie novel, Dr Bun found himself entwined in a conspiracy of the rich and powerful, as he tracked the death of his childhood friend. Tan, the teacher who was also romantically involved with the victim, just refused to let him go.
Helmed by one of the power couples in Thai BL dramas, Max and Tul, the hype around Manner of Death was focused on the 2 main leads: Dr Bun and Tan. However, as viewers would find out, the series was more than just 2 characters uncoverying a conspiracy. Every episode, some character would emerge to be a likely murderer. By episode 9, we still have no idea who the murderer was, except that the masterminds were a political figure and his side kick.
Manner of Death is worth the mention, because it deviated from the tired stories of Thai BL, and actually focused on the mystery rather than the BL. It was as though the BL was just a part of life and the romance a process that evolved naturally as the story developed. Such a production would be useful to help elevate BL into mainstream.
That being said, Max and Tul’s acting were still bordering on the edge of disaster. The only natural scenes were when they were making out.
And let’s just leave this here.
My Oxygen
My Oxygen also treaded the path of Bangkok university love story. However, it was obvious that the producers were also experimenting with something new.
The one thing that stood out was its body positive messaging. Or rather, that was what I interpreted.
Past actors for Thai BL series followed closely to the images portrayed by the manga – slim and tall boys with jawlines that could slice a watermelon. The same imaging was applied also on the supporting characters.
In My Oxygen, except for the main leads, the supporting actors weren’t of the slim and lanky types. Of course, they still didn’t enrol the acting of artistes who were on the obese side, but a character with love handles? A character with a heavy bottom? People like these are every where in our lives, but never in Thai BL.
Unfortunately, the storyline was stale and the acting was weird – they’re new actors anyways. The post production editing was also jumpy – transitions were not smooth and a lot of time, we were left hanging in a previous scene.
But rest assured that, despite the body positive messaging, all actors come packaged with good looks. So watching the series would still be a visual feast, to put it crudely.
The Shipper
The Shipper also deviated from the stale Thai BL storylines by infusing an element of Japanese drama comedy. From the visual graphics to character development, it was obvious the producers were paying a tribute to the well loved Japanese drama.
Pan, with her iconic Japanese “eh~~”, found herself in a body swap with Kim. Coincidentally, Kim was the object of her… BL fantasy. Pan found herself in the prime position to make her dream of making Kim and his good buddy, Way, an item. Disregard the fact that Way already has a girl friend, or that Kim (in Pan’s body) was still unconscious. And wait… did I mention that Kim’s brother, Khet, was secretly in love with Pan, and found himself falling in love with his older brother (or the Pan’s soul in Kim’s body).
The story was so wrong in many ways.
And guess what? Everybody was waiting for the moment when Kim (with Pan’s soul) kissed Khet in the final episode.
Hello~~
I guess when we’re talking about BL, which is still a taboo in many parts of the world, nothing else is really out of bounds.
It did explore something of a deeper meaning – when you’re in love, are you in love with the person’s body or the soul? If it’s the soul, will it matter that the body belongs to someone not meant for you?
Read More: The Shipper – Which ship do you ship?
Parting Words
2020 will go down history as one of the toughest. However, there’s a silver lining in it – BL dramas. With everybody being cooped up at home, TV networks started uploading their new and old series online to capture the stay home market. In many cases, those dramas could be watched for free.
What was once a niche, BL has emerged in 2020 as the rising star of dramas. People who were tired of the usual romcoms were more willing to try watching BLs. Some BLs that was geared towards bromance attracted those who were new to the niche, and those that were more tuned towards GL filled the needs of hardcore fujoshi.
It was during this difficult period that BL dramas provided solace to many drama fans all over the world. 2gether, the Thai BL which started the golden age of BL series, was described as the best thing ever to happen during the lock down period. That was followed by a blossoming of BL dramas through the end of the year, which was rounded off beautifully with the lighthearted Cherry Magic from Japan.
In betweeen, fans were presented with an intricately produced I Told Sunset About You, while Korea hailed the dawn of K BLs with Where Your Eyes Linger. Just when everyone got tired of BL dramas saturated with bad acting, in came YYY that took bad acting to the next level, and made that into a hilarious sitcom.
Yes, 2020 wasn’t exactly the best year, but it was not all that bad after all. Spend some time to watch (or re-watch) these highly popular BL dramas and you’ll understand why.
Till then, try not to get BLown away!
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